Can I Dig It? - Food Growing for Busy People

How to analyse and copy nature’s growing patterns to get every inch of use from your growing space. Plus, Pippa manages listener Kristin’s heartache AND Zoe enters her witch era during the recording! Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Check out a food forest near you:Volunteering - Edible Landscapes London Research Site Tours - The Agroforestry Research Trust RHS Garden Bridgewater / RHS Developing the Walled Garden at Shugborough | National Trust

PSA: NOT putting in a ton of back-breaking work actually yields better results for your garden, Pippa explains why. Plus, Zoe quizzes Pippa on asparagus and time travel. Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Beauregard is the variety of sweet potato that is believed to be one of the best to grow in cooler climates. Pippa’s pal, Steph Hafferty, has a YouTube channel (@stephaniehaffertyhomesteading) and has written several books.Steph’s co-author of ‘No-Dig Organic Home & Garden’, Charles Dowding, also has a YouTube channel (@charlesdowding1nodig) and a number of other books, courses and products under his belt.

Zoe explores the roles that seed swaps can play for individuals, communities and our growing spaces. We hear from the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership who organise Seedy Sunday, the largest and longest running seed swap in the UK. AND!!!! Plot neighbour Jane makes an appearance! Plus, Pippa reminds listener Kate why exactly she bothered to put cardboard on her garden. Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Seedy Sunday is organised by the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership.

Bare soil = no food! We discuss what succession planning is and how to start incorporating it into your garden so you can get more from your space. Plus, Pippa blows Zoe’s mind with her controversial take on crop rotation. Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Find out about the Winter of Care and Repair challenge via Zoe’s other podcast, Check Your Thread:Ep. #115: Winter of Care and Repair with Jeanna WiggerThe two types of succession sowing:1 - Sow the same crop but just one row or a small amount every 2-4 weeks. This will help you get a crop over a long period rather than them all being ready at once.Crops that work well with this approach include: Lettuce, spring onion, radish, baby carrots2 - Following one crop with another. For example, a spring sowing of spinach could give crop from April to May, and it always seems to flower in May/June, whatever time you sowed it. Then take out spinach and put in dwarf french beans for a second crop from the same bed.Some early cropping options:Early potatoes, peas, broad beans, early carrots, beetrootFollow those with:Winter cabbage, leeks, kale, swiss chard, late carrots, courgetteA late summer harvested crop like courgette or french beans can be followed with autumn sown broad beans, turnips, winter salads esp oriental salads, pakchoi or autumn planted garlic. Huw Richards has created an excellent video on succession planning:How to Create a Planting Plan for Year-Round Food Abundance | Complete Guidehttps://youtu.be/nkjeSJQWhZc?si=9YPqBwV2-PKXOMEO

Planning for the next growing isn’t all about shopping for seeds, apparently! Pippa talks us through the things to start considering to help you get the most from next year’s efforts. Plus, Zoe wants to know about compost optimisation and the suitability of seaweed as mulch. Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Fruit Works Co-operative is a social enterprise helping people to plant and maintain fruit trees in the Bradford and Leeds area of the UK. Follow Grace Hills @sparkingcommunity on InstagramZoe will be restocking on broad beans from Real Seeds. If you missed it, we did a deep dive in mulch:Ep. #3: Mulching: How, Why & When

News flash: not all pumpkins are bland and useful only for carving! We discuss what we might be missing, and how to get the most from the bland ones too. Plus, Zoe sneaks in questions about tired rhubarb crowns, and seeks validation for her lazy approach to weeding. Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Pippa’s new book, ‘Permaculture Planting Designs’ is available for PRE-ORDER!!!! Varieties of seeds/plants mentioned:‘Jack O Lantern’ for actual carving Lady Godiva for naked/hulless seeds from Garden OrganicKakai for naked/hulless seeds from Vital SeedsHablitzia / caucasian spinach seeds from Incredible Vegetables, a tastier alternative to Good King HenryCheck out the garden consultation episode (#112) of Zoe’s other podcast, Check Your Thread, with Pippa when they first got to know each other.

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. BBC Good Food have a great recipe for pickled pink onions, similar to the ones Pippa made and ate immediately!The RHS explain F1 hybrid seeds so we don’t have to (again). Great sources for heritage and open pollinated seeds:The Organic Seeds CatalogueReal SeedsVital Seeds

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. If you’re in the UK and have a TV licence, you can see Pippa’s appearance on Gardener’s World via iPlayer. Pippa uses an Excalibur dehydrator, specifically the Excalibur 9-tray Dehydrator With Timer In BlackFermentation expert, Sam Cooper, is @chef.sam.black on Instagram. His book, The Fermentation Kitchen, is on Zoe’s Christmas list. ‘Slow Bolt’ AKA ‘Long-Standing’ and ‘Santos’ are coriander (cilantro) varieties that are slower to go to seed. ‘Green Aroma’ is Pippa´s favourite variety of coriander (cilantro).Great sources for fruit trees are:AshridgeBlackmoorOr, your local trusted garden centre may do bareroot fruit orders.

Check out the Can I Dig It Podcast's Patreon page!Can I Dig It? is made by: Pippa Chapman, @pippachapman_thoseplantpeople on Instagram, and Pippa Chapman Permaculture on YouTube.Zoe Edwards, @sozoblog and @checkyourthread on Instagram, and visit the Check Your Thread website and find the podcast in your favourite app. Check out Pippa’s YouTube video that she was FINALLY able to make about preparing homemade herbal teas.'Recycled plastic also has a significantly lower carbon footprint than timber or metal, using less energy and water and emitting lower levels of CO2 in its production.'Find out more about the recycled plastic available for making planters and raised beds.Pallet collars can be found second hand on ebay or facebook marketplace.How To Save Your Own Seed at Home by Realseeds: tons of info on harvesting, storing etc. plus a downloadable PDF seed saving guide.Steph Hafferty has a great guide to starting a no dig bed Top 10 FAQ - How to start your No Dig Garden - Stephanie Hafferty

Do you want to grow your own food but feel you don't have the time? Welcome to 'Can I dig it?' - the podcast that makes home grown food simple, fun and totally doable, even with a busy schedule. If you want to experiment with food growing, but you don't have the time to read all the books and watch all the Youtube videos, this is the podcast for you. Hosted by one seasoned gardening expert and one enthusiastic and curious beginner, 'Can I dig it?' breaks gardening down to the absolute essentials. No waffle, no overwhelm, just practical steps you can squeeze into your real life, without forgetting to enjoy ourselves along the way. Whether your space is an allotment, a back garden, a yard, a balcony or just a sunny windowsill, we’ll get you going with your growing. Tune in for easy tips, honest experiments and plenty of laughs along the way. Can I dig it? Yes, yes you can.